Metro Tiles
At the time of drafting this 2018-19, I noticed these horrid white tiles springing up everywhere. Especially to be found in bathrooms and kitchens. If you watch TV programmes about selling or improving homes you will see these replacing much more attractive bathroom or kitchen furnishings. But how did they become all the rage? I guess they are supposed to represent a clean minimalist look. But their stark shine makes them more suited to a butcher’s, maybe wiped clean of pig’s blood spatter. Or the functional brittle look of public toilets for easy disinfection or how I imagine the walls of a morgue to look.
Industrial Hedge Cutters
You know the sort; used by people contracted to housing associations and councils to trim public or communal garden areas. You’ll have heard them, often blasting you from your slumber at some unearthly hour with a persistent annoying racket. Whining on and on. And just when you think the hedgecutter has finally been switched off for good, stuttering to a growl, up it will start again, only nearer this time. When you think of wo/man’s endless capacity for improvement and invention, surely it’s not rocket science to come up with a quieter hedge trimmer? Especially now that I’ve identified a gap in the market. You’d think they could invent something ear-friendly!
Image courtesy Keith Syvinski: www.freeimages.com
Royal Blue Walls
That sort of royal blue on walls in bedrooms. You know, Chelsea Blue. I won’t say Everton Blue (even though I’m a Liverpool supporter). I’m not that much of a fan of red walls either but there’s something about that shade of blue on walls that makes me feel a bit, well, blue! OK for kids but nothing worse for anyone else. The fact that I couldn't find an image with said blue walls is testament really. The picture below (which I had to adapt) gives the right shade but not the image in my mind's eye which is usually a cluttered sort of room.
Adapted from an image by Spencer on Unsplash
Indoor furniture in gardens
A comfy settee with soft fabrics just looks wrong in a garden unless it can be packed away in the event of rain or change of season. What’s wrong with good old-fashioned deck chairs or sun loungers with their padded cushions? Surely these are the most sumptuous of outdoor furniture while still being practical? They are lightweight and can be stored away in the summerhouse or shed or conservatory out of season. But now the twenty-teens-and-twenties way is to have a gert big settee on the decking complete with cushions and coffee tables and the rest of it. Yes you can drape covers over them but are they really protected from the elements? They just seem a luxury too far to me.
Courtesy of Canna Curious Club on Unsplash
Well, that's me. Now over to you. Do share your own bête-noires of the home-and-garden sort!
